Freedom

edited May 2004 in Faith Issues
This is a chapter from the book : [glow=red,2,300]Ten Concepts[/glow] by H.H. Pope Shenoda III, this is the chapter about freedom, I wanna ask what is each of ur opinions on freedom and what do u take freedom as??


THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM
In this chapter we shall present some concepts pertaining
to certain matters relating to both spiritual and social life.
Beginning with the Concept of Freedom, let us discuss it
with our young people:
God likes everyone to be free:
God created man with a free will and said to him in the
Book of Deuteronomy, "See, I have set before you today
life and good, death and evil ... I call heaven and earth
as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you
life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose
life, that both you and your descendants may live, that
you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His
voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life"
(Deut. 30:15-20).
Freedom necessitates accountability and
responsibility:
A person or any being who has no freedom is not
accountable for his doings.
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On the other hand, freedom necessitates the
accountability of man for whatever he does whether good
or evil so that he might be rewarded for his good works
and punished for his wrong or evil works. Adam and Eve
were free and when they had had God's Commandment
they could have obeyed or broken it. But they broke the
Commandment and God inflicted punishment on them
(Gen. 3:9-19).
Punishment for a wrong doing of a person who has
discretion is double: on earth and in heaven. He may
escape punishment on earth but punishment remains in
the other world not abolished except by repentance (Luke
13:3-5).
Likewise the reward for a good deed of a person done by
his free will is a double reward. Even though a person
does not obtain the reward on earth, it is kept for him in
heaven, "your Father who sees in secret will reward you
openly" (Matt. 6 :4,6).
You are not entitled to absolute freedom:
You are free to do whatever you want provided that you
do not impose upon the rights or freedoms of others, nor
break God's commandments or public order laid down for
the safety and peace of others.
For example, you have no right to violate traffic rules
while driving your car and say: I am free to go wherever I
want !! Nor have you any right to raise your voice and
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make noise that is disturbing to others and say: I am free
to raise my voice as much as I like !!
You have no right to cheat in exams from other papers
and say : I am free to use whatever papers I like!!
As you ought to use your freedom in a way that does
not harm others or violate the public order, you
should also use your freedom in such a way as not to
cause harm to yourself.
Your own self does not belong to us. It belongs to God
who created it and redeemed it. It belongs also to the
community that cared for you and brought you up and
thus you have obligations towards it.
Therefore killing oneself in suicide is a crime which is
punished by God and rejected by law. The same applies
to whoever causes himself harm through smoking or
drugs. Such a person cannot say: I am free to smoke
whenever I like!! He has no right to destroy himself or
deprive the community of his existence and from
performing his duty towards it.
Restrictions against freedom are for your benefit :
Restrictions are useful in that they hold you back from
doing harm to yourself, to others, or to the community
and from breaking God's commandments.
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A river has two banks, they do not restrain its water-
course but preserve it.
If a river has no banks it will flow on both sides and
inundate the land turning it into swamps. I wonder if
rivers object to having two banks and say : Banks restrain
our freedom!!
It is the same for you; the banks to you are God's
commandments, the laws and the traditions or perhaps
religion and education. Both are for your benefit; for a
child who refuses education and considers it restricting
his freedom, or the youth who refuses the advice of his
parents, his teachers or his guides, seeing in them a
restraint to his freedom, such a person will be corrupt and
will be led astray from the right path. Can straying be
another name for freedom or a consequence thereof ?
Real freedom is to free yourself of your faults:
One should free oneself of faults, bad habits and bad
feelings of the heart, and free one's mind of deviating
thoughts. One should turn away from being subject to
the devil and his supporters, from the influence of bad
company and corrupt association and from every control
over one's will intended to lead one astray.
Such is the freedom meant by the Holy Bible, "If the Son
makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).
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He who is freed from sin internally, can use external
freedom in the right way:
For example he who is free from hatred, cruelty, violence
and oppression, can use his freedom properly when
dealing with people. But if a person is offensive or cold-
hearted and wishes to use his freedom in whatever way
he likes, he will hurt others with his cruelty and
offensiveness.
Likewise, a person who is not freed from bodily lusts can
abuse his freedom in harming others instead of using his
freedom to preserve his purity and holiness.
A girl, for example, who says: I shall put on whatever
dress I like, and laugh or enjoy myself as I want, is in this
way offending others and may cause others to fall besides
herself. Such a girl is not yet free internally, so she uses
her external freedom in a way that causes harm to herself
and to others.
A student who is not serious in his study all year and
says: I am free to do whatever I want, is in fact doing
harm to himself and is misusing his freedom, and thus
cannot succeed in his life because he is not freed within
from the domination of diversion.
My advice to you is, use your freedom for your own
benefit and for the benefit of others. Free yourself within
first before you practice your external freedom.
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Some may restrain themselves to attain real freedom:
Such a person does not give himself whatever he wants
lest he should spoil himself or lose control over himself
and lose the real freedom.
So, such a person proceeds into spiritual training to
control himself, restrain his tongue so that it might not
err, control his nerves so that he may not rage and lose
his friends. He proceeds also with spiritual exercises to
control his thoughts so that they may not wander in
harmful matters, as well as spiritual exercises to control
his body through fasting and vigil and to control it
regarding lusts so that he may not plunge into diversion
and sensual delight and lose his spirituality.
Is it right for anyone to say: I shall behave as I wish,
freely, and not restrain myself and force myself to do
good? And if so, is such a person really free or
dominated by his lusts?
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Defender

Comments

  • Hey Guys, How come no one replied?? :-\


    defender
  • I think every1 is just flabergasted at the amount of writing. I know I get intimidated when I see a long post, and I kind of don't have time to read it, unless its something that really interests me. Gimme a couple of days to read this, and I'll post a reply! ;D

    Lazarus the Bishop: the beloved of Christ: whom He raised from the dead: after four days.
    - Chris
  • Hey, I know it is kinda long,

    by the way, Lazarus became a Bishop??? :o

    defender
  • Yes, Lazarus became a bishop. From the doxology of Lazarus Saturday:

    "Lazarus the Bishop: the beloved of Christ: whom He raised from the dead: after four days.

    And he lived for forty years: and became a bishop: on the throne of Cyprus: He shepherded the flock of Christ."

    - Chris
  • WOW :o,

    that's awesome, btw has anyone here visited cyprus b4,
    I personally did, it's so awesome, esp. their food


    They have lots of beautiful Christian stuff, too bad our Churches are not united yet, but when they are, God Willing, when I go to Cyprus and don't find a Coptic Church I'll go to the Greek Orthodox, I have a question though... Are we allowed to wear deacons in our Sister Churches??


    Defender
  • great question...I wish I knew the answer.....I would assum no because they do not use Coptic in their liturgies, but I have no idea. ??? Great Question!

    I believe that You are the Son of God: Who has the might: to call him out by Your power: "Lazarus, come out."
    - Chris
  • I'll post it on www.coptichymns.net and see what their answer is...


    defender
  • Cool. Let us know when they answer. I'm sure people in this Forum also know, just haven't gotten around to this topic yet. GO TASBEHA.ORG Woohoo!!! ;)

    The evil powers: who had tied him: in the depth of depths asked: Who is this who may say: "Lazarus come out"?
    - Chris
  • Ofcourse, GO TASBEHA.ORG, in my opinion this is the best forum ever. Thanks moderators for ur efforts. I just wanted to post it in Coptichymns.net because there are like Priests that post there too. I don't post there a lot though, I post here.


    Defender
  • Ok, this is what I recieved so far...

    Guys, I was just wondering whether we are allowed to wear deacons in our Sister Churches r not??


    This question is really confusing me...

    God Bless and Pray 4 me


    Defender




    Jacob_mansi

    Posts: 1




    Joined: Jan 21, 2004
    Location: Mississauga Ontario
    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 03:40 PM

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    I heard regardless of church, country, as a deacon & being ordained as a deacon, you have to dress as a deacon. In fact from what I heard it would be totally wrong not to dress as deacon in another church.

    Jay




    rimo

    Posts: 62




    Joined: Sep 20, 2003
    Location: Newcastle, England
    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 03:46 PM

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    well it is a responsibility of the deacon to serve where ever God takes him, however out of courtesy, you speak to the serving priest and take his blessing beforehand



    _________________
    1Sa:16:7: But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.



    Biboboy

    Posts: 257




    Joined: Jun 09, 2003
    Location: Mississauga, ON
    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 05:38 PM

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    Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended to heaven, have mercy on us.

    Agape,

    According to what I know, every deacon is ordained to serve a specific Church - the bishop, during the ordination, will say that psaltos/oghnotostos/sub-deacon/deacon/arch-deacon "X" for the "Church of St. Y in the city of Z"

    So, I don't think that it's correct to just go to any church and serve wherever one pleases, because the service of a particular Church is given to you already - unless, of course, you have your priest's permission (like I needed when I immigrated to Canada, for example).

    _________________
    "As the occupation of the ploughman is the ploughshare, and the occupation of the helmsman is the steering of the ship, so also my occupation is the psalmody of the Lord by His hymns. My art and my service are in His hymns, because His love has nourished my heart, and His fruits He poured unto my lips. For my love is the Lord; hence I will sing unto Him. For I am strengthened by His praises, and I have faith in Him. I will open my mouth, and His Spirit will speak through me the glory of the Lord and His beauty, the work of His hands, and the labor of His fingers; for the multitude of His mercies, and the strength of His Word" (Odes of Solomon, 16:1-7).

    In Christ,
    Bishoy
    HCOC Member

    + To Protect and Preserve +

    HCOC: Sing it! Live it! Love it!

    Questions or comments on the copticheritage.org website?
    E-mail me: [email protected], or send me a Private Message.



    Defender

    Posts: 13




    Joined: May 23, 2004

    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 05:59 PM

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    No guys, that's not what I meant, but thanks anyways. What I meant is, can I serve in an indian Orthodox Church, or an Eritarian Orthodox Church or any other Sister Church??

    Defender




    Biboboy

    Posts: 257




    Joined: Jun 09, 2003
    Location: Mississauga, ON
    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 06:03 PM

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    Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended to heaven, have mercy on us.

    Agape,

    Defender, how do you ever expect to serve in another Sister Church? Do u know how to speak in Syriac; do u know their hymns; do u know their rites? Unless u know all of that, how can u serve there?

    The answer is obviously that we cannot serve in another Sister Church - we shouldn't even move around within our own churches, so how much more would this apply to the Sister Churches?

    _________________
    "As the occupation of the ploughman is the ploughshare, and the occupation of the helmsman is the steering of the ship, so also my occupation is the psalmody of the Lord by His hymns. My art and my service are in His hymns, because His love has nourished my heart, and His fruits He poured unto my lips. For my love is the Lord; hence I will sing unto Him. For I am strengthened by His praises, and I have faith in Him. I will open my mouth, and His Spirit will speak through me the glory of the Lord and His beauty, the work of His hands, and the labor of His fingers; for the multitude of His mercies, and the strength of His Word" (Odes of Solomon, 16:1-7).

    In Christ,
    Bishoy
    HCOC Member

    + To Protect and Preserve +

    HCOC: Sing it! Live it! Love it!

    Questions or comments on the copticheritage.org website?
    E-mail me: [email protected], or send me a Private Message.



    Defender

    Posts: 13




    Joined: May 23, 2004

    Posted: May 26, 2004 - 06:09 PM

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    That kinda helps, but by the way, the Eritarian Orthodox have exactly the same Liturgy Book.

    Defender!

  • well from what i've heard, you can serve in our sister churches, if you know how to. i mean, just a few months ago, we had the liturgy with all the sister churches combined with anba david there in East Brunswick. Its hard to serve there though cus u don't know the language, but u can still take communion there. i don't believe that the Greek Church is one of our sister churches though. correct me if i'm wrong.
  • no.. ur absolutely right... the Greek Orthodox church isn't considered out sister church...
  • yeh im pretty sure that we arent in communion with the greeks so i dont think we can take there communion but we could dress and serve in the altar etc. in the armenian becuase we are in complete communion with them.....hoped that helped ;D
  • Guys, I already mentioned that I want to serve there WHEN THEY BECOME OUR SISTER CHURCH, anyways, I really want to learn other Liturgy languages, but afterall, I have to learn ours first... :D

    God Bless,

    Defender
  • i agree completely, and by the way, you can dress up and serve in the armenian church, but then again, like one of people from the coptichymns.net forum said, do u know how to? how are u gonna serve with them if u can't even speak their language. Thats pretty much the only thing standing in the way of us singing hymns in unity with our sister churches.
  • We can always learn their hymns, after all it sure would be nice to serve in a sister Church as a deacon, but what about the deacon wear? do we wear our tonia and bardanish even if they don't have that?


    Defender
  • i believe the word you're trying to say is badrashel... bardanish isn't a word... unless it has two names... which i don't think it does
  • i don't believe that the Greek Church is one of our sister churches though

    i think it is one of our sister churches. im sure that the armenian chuch is though because every year, some of the churches have a really big mass with the armenian church.
  • the greek church isn't the same thing as the armenian church... meaning we're def. not in communion with the greek orthodox church
  • oh lol ;D :-[!
  • That's what I meant :-[

    I never knew how to spell it....lool


    Defender
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